Eyes Wide Open
by tourniquet1980
Summary: Charlie Swan has kept himself purposefully ignorant to the supernatural qualities of his daughter and her in-laws. He no longer has that choice, as he is about to become intimately familiar with the inner workings of the Cullen clan.
1. Unexpected

Chapter 1

Unexpected

"Edward?" Bella whispered, not wanting to wake Renesmee, but knowing full well her husband could hear her across the river. "Come home." She heard the slight breeze as Edward was suddenly at her side. "I think it's time."

He sighed, knowing she was right, but not wanting to admit it. "Long past, love. We've remained here only to spare you and Charlie the inevitable."

She leaned her head against his shoulder and curled up into his side. "And I am grateful for the time we've had. But we can't keep hiding here. Renesmee needs room to grow and explore, and we need to let the memories of our family begin to fade… So we can come back here someday."

He smiled as kissed the top of her head. "We have plans in place for a move. We have a few different options."

"Alaska."

Edward pulled away from her. "Why there? I thought you didn't like Tanya."

She laughed. "That's too strong a term. Tanya and I will probably never be close, but dislike is a long way off. Besides, I think she needs some family. She hasn't been the same since Irina was murdered by the Volturi. Kate has Garrett, and Carmen and Eleazar have each other."

"So, it's completely altruistic this plan of yours?"

"Well, not totally. Renesmee can finish growing, and have plenty of room to explore and hunt without worrying about prying eyes, or whispers." She sighed. "I just want some peace for a while. Alaska seems to offer the best hope for that."

Edward smiled at her. "It's perfect."

* * *

The Cullen family exodus began with a flurry of packing as they prepared to shutter their Washington home for the foreseeable future. Jasper worked his computer wizardry to create new Alaska based documentation for all of them, while Bella liaised with J. Jenks to obtain the actual paper copies. Rosalie arranged to donate the cars, as they would buy new vehicles upon arriving in Alaska. Emmett was doing the heavy lifting in packing away the larger pieces of furniture, carefully directed by Esme. Carlisle was busy wrapping up his exit paperwork at the hospital, while Edward ran the small errands that are inevitably part of a large move. Alice was carefully packing the unworn clothes for the family, and preparing the rest to be donated, all whilst keeping a watchful eye on the future. Which was made a bit more difficult due to the presence of Jacob. He had resigned his position as Alpha of his little pack, in order to remain close to his imprint. Leah had taken it the hardest, because it meant she would be subjected to Sam again. But Seth, Embry and Quil, having all now imprinted, understood.

Jacob looked into the small knapsack of belongings he had. He smiled at the small picture of his father, who had passed just 6 months ago. He had been in pain for so long, that Jacob felt nothing but relief at the fact that his beloved father was no longer in pain. He smiled again and sat back against the now empty wall. He watched Alice flit between the various bedrooms, and was stunned when she ran into a wall. He shot up, just as everyone in the room stilled. Only a powerful vision could derail Alice in such a way. She had a faraway look in her eye. In the next second, Edward, who had just arrived with a few new suitcases for his sister, gasped as he dropped them where he stood. "Charlie!"

Jacob was the first to stir. "What? What happened? Is he ok?"

Alice came out of her vision. "No. He's not. He's out fishing. But he's about to clutch his left arm and fall in the water. He's going to die… I couldn't see before. Bella is going to be devas-" She stopped. "Edward, go now. There's still a chance."

"No! You can't mean-"

"Do it, you can see-"

"But-"

"GO!"

Edward hesitated less than a second, and then hurried as fast as he could towards Lake Pleasant, where they knew he had gone fishing that day, clearing his head. No sooner had he left, then they heard the dull roar of Carlisle's Mercedes pulling onto the drive drove them into action. It was Bella. She soon raced in the door, but her smile faded as she took in the shock and dismay on the faces in the room. "What's happened?"

Alice came to her, with a tragic look on her face, the future still so uncertain. "It's Charlie. He seems to have had, or is having, a heart attack. A bad one. I can't see what's going to happen. Edward went to him-"

"I have to go to him, to help Edward-"

"No, Bella. Please. Edward is there and- YES! He got there in time. They're coming here now." Alice was jubilant, but soon looked a little sheepish as she stared up at Bella, anticipating what she was going to say.

"But he needs the hospital. Why is he bringing Charlie here?"

"That's the thing…" Alice sighed.

Bella's eyes grew wide with shock as she completely and fully understood what was happening. Just as she was about to speak, Charlie screamed.


	2. Burning

Burning

The pain was excruciating. All memory of anything else ceased to exist in the mind of Charlie Swan. Fire was spreading through his veins, and he had brief thoughts in the midst of agony that somehow he had displeased God and had been sentenced to the fiery torment of hell. Nothing else but the flame and pain were completely relevant to him though, as he was surely going mad. He was in the throes of torment for what seemed like years. Then, slowly, as though someone was dousing the flame one drop of water at a time, he began to feel release, and wished, hoped, and prayed that death was coming for him. Minute by aching minute the fire dulled and he wished he could thank whoever was helping him, but his agony had not yet abated enough to form a sentence. Suddenly, his heart leapt into overdrive, and he knew he was finally dying. His heart would explode, and it would be over. Then just as suddenly it stilled. He was stunned. The fire was quenched. His heart had stopped. He should be dead. He slowly opened his eyes, and his jaw dropped in shock at how clear everything was.

"What the hell?" he said. And then he stilled again. There were two reasons for this. The first was the shock of hearing his voice, which had always been low and pleasant, now sounded smooth and rich with a deep timbre. The second was the sudden burn in his throat. He instinctively shot up off the bed and leapt out the open window, ignoring the shouts from behind him. He raced deep into the woods, then as suddenly as his run began, it stopped. He smelled something so sweet, so delicious that he immediately changed course and found the source of the smell. A large black-tail buck was drinking from a stream. He immediately leapt upon the deer and drained it in mere minutes. He ran again, looking for more blood to quench his thirst, when he came upon a small campsite. He stopped and smelled the air. The smell was putrid, almost to the point of making him gag, if he could. He ran in the opposite direction, toward more of the delicious scent that had led him to his first deer.

* * *

He was close to finishing his fourth deer, when he heard the rustling leaves. He quickly finished and leapt to his feet. Bella and Edward entered the clearing. "What happened?" he asked, glaring at them both. "Why the hell do I feel like this? WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?"

Bella approached him first, very slowly. "Dad, please. We will explain everything-,"

"NOW!"

"Ok, we will. Please, Dad. Can we go back to the house? We shouldn't talk about this here," Bella pleaded. "Please."

Charlie grumbled, but acquiesced. "Let's go."

Edward and Bella led the way back to the house. Charlie continued to grumble along the way, to Edward's bemusement, and Bella's worry. They reached the house, and found the rest of the family, including Jacob and Renesmee, waiting in the living room. "Speak," Charlie ordered.

Bella began, "What do you remember?"

Charlie thought quickly to his most recent memories. The fire coursing through him, the abject agony. But there was something else there. Water. A boat. "I was fishing." He thought again. "I – I think I had a heart attack, I can't be sure. I remember hitting the water. Then, all I remember –," and he shuddered visibly.

"Pain," Carlisle said. "The worst pain of your life. Like fire consuming your very flesh."

"Yes. That. What the hell happened? Why do I feel like this? Who – or what – are you people?"

Bella smiled a little at this. "We are what you are. We're vampires."

* * *

"So, that's why Jacob turns into a wolf?" Charlie asked

Jacob smirked and answered for himself, "Sure is. All their fault." He grinned broadly as there was a chuckle around the room.

"So, when you bit me, Edward, you technically broke the treaty."

Edward smiled. "Yes. Yes I did. But Jacob has assured us that he has cleared this with the pack. They're fine with it. They like it when Bella and Nessie are happy. And this makes them much happier than the alternative."

Charlie grimaced at that. He accepted readily what had happened, was even a bit thrilled at the prospect of this new and exciting adventure. A sudden thought brought him up short. "Oh, God. Sue." Charlie and Sue Clearwater had been together for four years now. Truth be told, he had felt them growing apart in recent months. He couldn't help but feel he should talk to her. "I should-,"

Jacob stopped him. "I talked to her, Charlie. She already knows." He paused. "She actually seemed kinda, I don't know, ok with it. It was strange. She just said to tell you she wishes you well."

Charlie actually laughed. "To tell you the truth, I'm relieved myself." He shook Jacob's hand, "Thanks." He paused, bent closer to Jacob, and pulled back. "You need a shower, kid."

Everyone laughed at that one. "No, that's just how wolves smell to us. A bit like wet dog, mixed with a lot of unpleasantness," said Carlisle.

"I smell wet dog. But I also smell- well honestly, I just smell sweat and dirt. And some body odor. Not at all pleasant."

Carlisle raised his eyebrows at this. "Really? That's interesting." He paused in thought. "What about your hunt? Bella said you were drinking from a deer when they found you. Usually, our kind lack the control necessary as a newborn to consciously choose animals."

"Well, when I was running, all I was thinking about was stopping the burn in my throat. I smelled something really sweet and delicious, so I followed that and found a big old buck. 6 pointer. He was delicious. There was still a lot of burn, so I ran off to find more, but I came across this campsite –," everyone held their breath at this "- and the smell was just awful. So I ran away until I smelled more deer, and that's when they found me." Everyone was stunned. "What?"

Edward was the first to speak. "I think you're right, Jasper."

Charlie turned to Jasper. "What is it?"

Jasper stared at him. "I think that might be your gift."

Carlisle slapped his thigh. "That has to be it. Remarkable."

Charlie looked pensive as he glanced to his daughter, "Bells?"

Bella laughed. "Well, we told you we all have some sort of gifting that is an extension of something from our human lives. I think you brought your need to protect human life with you, and it somehow became a supernatural thing. That, and your love of venison." She laughed harder and fell off the arm of the couch with an audible thud. Everyone else joined in at seeing Bella's mirth. Even Charlie cracked a smile.

Nessie ran up to her grandfather, and hugged him. "You're special too, Grandpa!" Which set everyone off again.

* * *

Later that night, after the family had resumed their packing, Charlie was staring out a window, having just had a lengthy discussion with Jasper about a new identity, while Carlisle and Alice staged Charlie's 'death'. He shuddered a bit at the pomp and circumstance that would surround his 'funeral'. Bella came up behind him and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"How are you, dad?" She asked as she lifted her head to meet his crimson eyes.

"Overwhelmed." He smiled. "But I'm actually looking forward to this. I always knew there was more. And now, here it is. And I get to be with you, and Nessie. That's enough for me."

Bella smiled at him again. "It's such a relief, dad. I was so worried about you. Nessie and I have really loved being able to spend time with you, and I knew you would be heartbroken when we left. That you get to come with us is such a wonderful gift, even if it isn't even in the realm of what I imagined."

Charlie laughed at this. "Of what YOU imagined?"

They both laughed, and laughed harder when they heard the peals of laughter from the rest of the family. "Yeah, I guess this has probably been a bit more of a shock to you then to me."

He smiled.

* * *

The next two days were a bit of a slog for the normally active family. There had been some kind of hold up with Charlie's new identification. His funeral had gone off without a hitch, and had been the pompous nightmare he thought it would be as he watched it from afar.

The Cullen clan, and Jacob, left that night. They had rented a large van, to keep up appearances, and because Jacob and Nessie would require someplace to rest. Charlie sat in the very back of the van, and as they drove through Forks, one last time for Charlie's sake, he soaked in the sights and sounds of the little town he had always lived in. As they pulled onto the 101 heading towards Port Angeles and the ferry that would take them to Canada, He turned back around, and smiled.

"What are you thinking, dad?" Bella asked.

Edward chuckled as Charlie answered. "This is going to be fun."


	3. Home

Home

Charlie was stunned. They had stopped a few times along the way to the Denali wilderness where their family eagerly awaited them. But this had to be his favorite stop yet. Nessie and Jacob were eating at a small restaurant in Haines Junction, Yukon, so the rest of the family had decided to take a run into the wilderness to hunt. To say the scenery was breathtaking in Kluane National Park was an understatement. But once he had climbed to the peak of Mount Logan, he was utterly speechless. He had never been so high up in all his life. And with his enhanced senses, every detail of the area was crystal clear. He smiled to himself, again wondering at how fortunate he was to have been given the opportunity to live this wonderful new life.

Charlie raced quickly down the slope, catching up to Bella and Edward who had just finished feeding in the forest below. "Let's head back. I'm anxious to get moving," he said, bouncing on the balls of his feet like a small child. Bella laughed at the exuberance on her father's face as he raced back to the small town.

* * *

They arrived at the border check in just over 3 hours, having ignored many traffic laws on their way there. After the smooth re-entry to the United States, they piled back into the large van and began the final leg of their journey to their new home. Nessie was becoming agitated with the continued journey by van, and was starting to become a bit feisty. "I need to run."

Bella sighed, "You can in a few hours. This is important, Nessie. You know that."

Nessie's mouth settled into a thin line, and she crawled into Jacob's lap and continued to stare out the window. "Mama?"

"Yes, darling?"

"Can I run a lot where we're going?"

Bella smiled. "Yes, baby girl. You can run all you want. We're going to be deep in the wilderness, away from people." Nessie smiled at the thought, and lay her head against Jacob's chest, listening to the steady thrum of his heart.

* * *

As they pulled into the rental car place in Fairbanks, Charlie smiled as he saw three familiar vehicles waiting for them. They had had Emmet's Jeep, Carlisle's Mercedes, and Edward's Volvo shipped to meet them. They were the only three of the family's cars that they had all agreed could accommodate them whilst they lived in the vast wilderness. "I'm curious. Is their house big enough to fit all of us?"

They all chuckled, save Nessie, who looked like she was on the verge of asking the very same thing. Carlisle answered, "No. It definitely isn't. When we knew we would be coming here, I called Tanya. She and the rest of the clan have been building furiously since then, stopping only to feed. It seems Garrett picked up some rather impressive architectural knowledge sometime in the last couple of centuries, and plotted everything. We will have four homes waiting for us when we arrive. One for each couple, and then one that will house you, Nessie, Edward and Bella. And there is something of a communal lodge that will be waiting as well, so we can spend time all together without feeling crowded."

Charlie let out a low whistle. "The things we can do." He smiled as he, Nessie and Jake piled into the back of the Volvo.

* * *

Impressive wasn't enough to describe the sight of the little community that had sprung up out of the dense woods. Five houses formed a semicircle around a large low slung building in the middle. A large garage was on the very end by the second largest house. "That must be ours," Edward said, and he saw Garrett nod in agreement before he had even pulled into the garage. The Denalis waited patiently while their cousins completely disembarked from their various vehicles. There were greetings and hugs shared as they all rushed to speak. But Eleazar's voice rang above everyone else's.

"And I see the newest member of the family is gifted as well."

The Cullens and Denalis all turned to Charlie, who had a bemused look on his face. "What? Did you tell him about the human avoidance thing?" He looked at Bella, who nodded her head.

"Human avoidance?" Eleazar mused. "That is part of it, but it is so much more. You have a driving need and desire to protect all life. Human, vampire, werewolf." He nodded to Jacob as he said this. "And you can do it. Your gift is a different kind of shield to your daughters. You have the ability to redirect an individual from doing harm. It is passive, but very strong. I think that is why you have an aversion to human blood. You are protecting them with your own gift. In fact, I will wager to guess that were you to come across a human feeder, you would be able to deter them. And you don't even realize that you are using your gift, which makes it so different. It seems to exude from you."

Charlie was stunned to say the least. "Well, damn."

Laughter went in waves through the gathered immortals. Charlie's low chuckle drew the attention fully of the Denali leader, Tanya. She looked at him with a look of surprise as she felt stirrings within her that not even Edward had. She gasped as he looked straight into her eyes for the first time.

* * *

Charlie was floored. The magnificent beauty of the blonde staring at him was nearly blinding. But there was more. He felt a peace. A peace he had never felt before, not with Renee, not with Sue. Not even where he had felt most comfortable, in his work. There was a peace he could not fully explain. But he knew one thing above all.

He was home.


End file.
